Uk politics

What is Tristram Hunt trying to say in the Times today? He seems to say that the teaching of British values is an important thing, except when Michael Gove or another Tory says so. When they advocate the teaching of British values, the concept becomes reactionary tosh, because Tories are restructuring the schools system in a Bad way. He doesn’t actually argue with Michael Gove’s four-part definition (‘the values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs’). He just implies that these things are spun by Tories in an evil right-wing way, without quite producing evidence. I think

The Conservative party still doesn’t attract enough ethnic minorities. In this week’s Mini Election video, I visit Essex to speak to the Culture Secretary Sajid Javid about what the Tories have done to increase their appeal to non-white voters. He thinks Baroness Warsi is wrong and believes that the Conservatives are not ‘set to lose’ the Muslim vote in May. We discussed whether Lord Bates’ comments about immigrant mothers having too many babies were likely to turn voters away. Javid acknowledged that there are real concerns about immigration that need to be addressed but did not explicitly say he disagreed with Bates’ remarks. With the proper campaign just one week away, is Javid at all concerned that

With just over six weeks to go to polling day, the mood of the parties is now largely determined by the opinion polls. This morning’s crop are a mixed bunch. Survation for the Mail on Sunday has a 4 point Labour lead, YouGov has Labour two ahead but Opinium has the Tories on 36% and ahead by three. What seems clear is that the Budget hasn’t had a decisive impact on the polls. Yet most Tory MPs, including those who’ve been highly critical of Osborne in the past, are happy with it. One senior backbencher told me, ‘Burnishing a reputation for responsibility is more valuable than anything else. Glitzy giveaways

After months of negotiations, a final deal on debates has now been reached. There will be no head to head debate between Cameron and Miliband. Instead, there will be one seven way debate on April 2nd broadcast on ITV. There will also be an opposition leaders’ debate on the 16th of April on the BBC featuring Labour, the SNP, UKIP, the Greens and Plaid Cymru. On top of these debates, David Cameron and Ed Miliband will both do separate interviews, taking questions from a studio audience on Thursday for a Channel 4 / Sky programme. Then, on 3oth of April, Cameron, Miliband and Nick Clegg will appear separately on a

Only a third of the public think Parliament is effective in holding government to account: two thirds want improvement of our democratic institutions. We struggle to get more than two in three adults to cast a vote at a general election. It is widely held that anti-politics is the prevailing mood of our times. With depressing regularity though, discussions involving politicians and the media focus not on how to improve our democracy, but rather on how we can better communicate the brilliance of our achievements to those too cynical or ill-informed to see them. My eighteen years in the Commons have led me to a different conclusion: I think Parliament is weak, ineffective and in need of

How has George Osborne’s Budget gone down with his party? The Tory MPs I’ve spoken to in the past 24 hours or so since the Budget seem reasonably content with it. They’re not skipping through the corridors singing, but they’re equally not furious or despairing. Most seem to have sympathy with the lack of a rabbit in the Chancellor’s speech, even though they’re a bit disappointed that the Chancellor gave enough signals for them to think he was keeping a rabbit in his hat, only for a hamster to come scuttling out in the form of his Help to Buy ISAs. One senior Tory backbencher says: ‘The judgement that he’s

If George Osborne’s Budget is going to end up in a mess, it hasn’t done so yet. The worst criticism that the front pages of even hostile newspapers can come up with is that the Chancellor has produced a very political Budget which is hardly a surprise. Most splash on the retail offers in the Budget and the good economic news.    Some of the front pages have rather creative approaches to the Budget. Even front pages such as the i, which foregrounds the politics behind the Budget, still refer to the tax cuts for first-time buyers and savers. And the most critical front pages, from the Guardian and the Mirror,

So both Labour and the Lib Dems have responded to the TV debates with caution and enthusiasm respectively. A Labour spokesman said ‘based on the broadcasters’ proposals we have accepted and plan to attend all three debates on April 2nd, 16th and the 30th. If the Tories have confirmed they are to attend one of these debates then that is progress. It is one down, two to go. But no-one should be fooled: David Cameron is running scared of a head-to-head televised debate with Ed Miliband’. The Lib Dems have also welcomed the move as ‘progress’, with a spokesman saying: ‘ ‘It’s good news that we are finally making progress